Tata Motors profit misses estimates on Land Rover sales

Tata Motors, India’s biggest automaker, posted profit that missed analyst estimates as sales growth at its Jaguar Land Rover unit slowed.

Net income fell 7 percent to 32.9 billion rupees ($533 million) in the quarter ended Sept. 30, the Mumbai-based company reported today. That compares with the 45.9 billion-rupee median of 37 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Profit at the luxury unit declined to 450 million pounds ($705 million) from 507 million pounds a year earlier.

Deliveries at Jaguar Land Rover, which last month opened a factory in China, rose 7.9 percent in the quarter, slower than the 22 percent pace in the preceding period, dragged down by a decline in sales in North America. A prolonged slump in domestic demand for Tata Motors’ cars and trucks has also dented profit.

“You can’t always continue to grow every quarter, quarter-on-quarter at the same rate,” Ken Gregor, chief financial officer of the Jaguar Land Rover unit, said in Mumbai. “We are very ambitious about our business and investing very heavily in new products, new engines and new capacity.”

The company was unable to meet some demand in the U.S. due to scheduling issues at its plant, Gregor said.

The company’s new 130,000-unit-a-year factory in China is expected to ramp up production next year and that, combined with the introduction of the Discover Sport and the XE sedan is likely to drive growth, he said.

A “concern is the discounting in the domestic commercial vehicle business, the volumes are picking up, but the discounts are very high and that could be a drag on earnings,” Bharat Gianani, an analyst at Angel Broking in Mumbai, said before the results.

India’s truck market is dominated by fleet owners who are used to getting the discounts, Ravindra Pisharody, Tata Motors’ executive director for commercial vehicles, said in Mumbai. The company will start rolling back the discounts once demand picks up, he said, without specifying when that may happen.

Tata Motors revenue climbed 6.5 percent to 605.6 billion rupees. Sales at the luxury unit increased 4.2 percent to 4.81 billion pounds.

Shares of Tata Motors fell 0.5 percent to 523.90 rupees at the close in Mumbai trading today, before the results were announced. The stock has gained 39 percent this year, compared with the 32 percent advance in the S&P BSE Sensex Index. (Bloomberg)